Madeline Horn edited In_order_to_determine_the__.tex  over 8 years ago

Commit id: cd23a827e83c13438834bbdac4f07807c4cc6af6

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In order to determine the age of two Cesium-137 samples, we kept the same settings used from our calibration results and performed the experiment on two different Cesium-137 samples, one at a time. We had to do one at a time because if we did both samples together, their intensity would just add, and there would be no way to tell which sample produced what intensity. Both samples placed on the slot second from the top in the scintillator. Sample one (the younger sample) started out with $5 \mu \textrm{Curies}$ and had a published date of activation. We were able to find out that sample one is 211 months (17.583 years) old because we know the half life of Cesium-137, 30.2 years.   Both samples were measured for the same amount of time in order to get the best comparison of data. Had one sample been measured for a longer period of time, the intensity would have increased and the final results would be incorrect. After taking the spectrum data for both samples, it was clear that one spectra was younger (sample one) because the whole spectra had higher intensity values than than the older sample (sample two). This happens because the younger sample has more radioactive material to create gamma rays, and the younger it is, the more Cesium-137 there is to produce gamma rays. Also, sample two started out with only $1 \mu \textrm{Curie}$, so there would have been less gamma rays in general. Figure \ref{fig:Sample_one_Peak} shows the younger sample in blue (much higher intensity) and Figure \ref{fig:Sample_Two_Peak} the older sample in orange. From this graph, it is clear that the samples are very different in age. age, but sample one is has a higher intensity because it started out with more Cesium-137.